Gerhard Berting

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Gerhard Berting (born June 26, 1900 in Hanover ; † December 10, 1963 in Solingen ) was a German lawyer and administrative officer. From 1946 to 1963 he was senior city director of Solingen.

Life

Gerhard Berting was the son of a Protestant businessman, his mother was Jewish. After completing his military service, he studied law. In Halle he became active in the Corps Normannia and reciprocated in 1920. After completing his law degree, he held several positions as a lawyer. In 1935, Gerhard Berting was an administrative officer with the rank of government councilor in the Osnabrück district government when he was forced into retirement by the National Socialists because of his Jewish origins . In 1937 he obtained at least the further payment of his assessor salaries . From May 1940 to May 1942 he had to do forced labor at Siemens in Berlin . In May 1942 he managed to escape to Belgium ; he sold his stamp collection to pay for an escape helper. From September 1942 to July 1943 he lived illegally in Brussels and worked as a housekeeper for a German merchant until his employer managed to legalize his status through the mediation of the Brussels Jewish community.

After the end of the war, Berting worked again as a councilor in the district government in Düsseldorf from October 1945 . At their first meeting on March 6, 1946, the city ​​councilors appointed by the British occupying forces elected Gerhard Berting as the first city director of the city of Solingen. Berting, who in the years to come was committed to supporting those who had previously been racially persecuted, was largely responsible for the reconstruction of the inner city. The Solingen city archive writes about him: “The contentious pipe smoker is respected by everyone for his spontaneous enthusiasm and drive.” Berting died in the middle of his second term as the longest-serving administrative director in North Rhine-Westphalia .

The Bermel affair

On September 4 and 5, 1962, critical articles appeared in the Solinger Tageblatt , in which details of a planned relocation of drop forges from residential areas to the outskirts were reported. The chief city director Berting had communicated these details in a confidential meeting with representatives of the Düsseldorf district government , the city council, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the industry associations. Berting confirmed that the articles were factually correct, but wanted to find out from the author, the journalist Leo Bermel, who his informant was. He initiated a "disciplinary preliminary investigation against unknown persons", invited Bermel to his office as a witness and informed him at the same time that he was not entitled to refuse to give evidence . He relied on the provision that journalists "about the person of ... the person responsible for the publication of criminal content (is entitled to refuse to testify) ... if an editor of the publication is punished for this publication or if there are no obstacles to his punishment".

Bermel declined this subpoena. In the course of legal assistance, he was summoned to the district court, which sentenced him to a fine of 200 marks for unjustified refusal to testify. In addition, the magistrate ordered compulsory detention , the maximum length of which could have been six months, “to enforce the testimony” . The judgment was later overturned by the Wuppertal Regional Court because Berting's request for assistance was inadmissible.

This incident involving Leo Bermel caused a nationwide discussion, as journalists did not have a general right to refuse to testify in all federal states at the time. This right not to reveal informants was only regulated by law nationwide in 1975.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1996, 109/299
  2. ↑ Gerhard Berting ( Memento of the original from March 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on solingen.de  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www2.solingen.de
  3. ↑ Wolfgang J. Koschnick: Media and Journalist Handbook . 1996, p. 137
personal data
SURNAME Berting, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lawyer and administrative officer
DATE OF BIRTH June 26, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Hanover
DATE OF DEATH December 10, 1963
Place of death Solingen